It's your first time ski-touring - Alpinschule OASE-Alpin

As Simon looked at our Rucksacks, it became apparent that the next surprise was in store.
Yes, we had read the instructions about what to bring, what not to bring, how much to bring
etc. But hey… it all fitted in the rucksack!
The next 5 minutes was rather strange. This quite agreeable chap Simon proceeded to
empty all the contents of our carefully packed rucksack into the boot of our car explaining
that 75% of it was mostly superfluous.
“You‘ve a sun cream in your jacket… so
you don’t need all these other creams.”
“Two pairs of socks are enough”
“What do you want a hairdryer for?”
Strangely enough, all cheese, bread and
meat spread foodstuffs were allowed to
be taken with us!
And to tell the truth, he saved our backs
and shoulders for the next 5 days!
We carried all our kit with our lightened rucksacks on our backs through Obergurgl downtown,
and set touring ski complete with skins to snow at the basis lift and made our first
hesitant sliding paces through the piste. It was 10.00am. And by some miracle, the skins
worked. We were able to gracefully slide one ski forward whilst the second ski dutifully held
its position.
We continued upward and intuitively learned that the skin needs to be firmly pounded in the
snow to ensure the correct grip. Was this the reason why my father had always stomped his
ski on the snow whenever we had to walk uphill? Just following the old routines?
As we progressed, it became painfully apparent that we were not fit. Don’t get me wrong… I
go to the gym twice maybe even three times a week, and although I might not be the
youngest in this world, I would consider myself to be in good nick. But we weren’t even an
hour gone, and I was huffing and puffing my way up the 1800m mark, requiring pauses
every 20 minutes. “Why don’t we stop here and admire the views?“ I pitifully cried, realizing
that this was not what I imagined touring would be about!
A stop at the Schönwieshütte was a welcome relief. The weather was excellent, and the
views impressive. A cool drink and a soup
were just the ticket! By 1.30pm we were
off again, trudging up the mountain.
Luckily Sonja, a kind South German midwife,
kept with me… it was a very onesided
conversation since I was in no state
to utter 5 words in one coherent sentence
between my gasps for breath, but since
we had never met before, I guess she put
it down to another Englishwoman only
being able to speak a pittance of German.
“Don’t worry” she assured me “once you
find your rhythm, you’ll be flying up the
mountain”. Didn’t she realize that I was
struggling to find a rhythm? Any rhythm for that matter!
© 2004 :Recollections.doc by Miranda Bellchambers Page 2 of 10